Shadow Heart: The Fall of Mankind
by Vampire Archimiel
Summary: A first ever action Dragon Ball Z and Care Bears crossover! When a new enemy threatens both worlds, the Care Bears and Z Fighters unite to fight for the fate of life itself. UPDATED 1102007!
1. Prelude

Shadow Heart:

The Fall of Mankind

_Authors Notes:_

_About a year ago, I got the idea while watching old tapes of the Cell Saga to write a DBZ action saga. However, I was also watching old Care Bear tapes at the time, and it sparked an idea of mine not seen outside of the comedy genre; A action/horror DBZ/CB crossover._

_So I began work on the project. 5 chapters and over 18,000 words later, I was about halfway through the epic. Due to unfortunate circumstances, however, my fanfiction account, and my story, was lost. Now, over a year later, I have decided to re-write the story from the beginning, perfecting and correcting tiny plot flaws I should have noticed from the get-go._

_So call this, if you will, a prelude to the story, and allow me to properly introduce what I am hoping will one day be called a pioneer crossover between DBZ and CB._

_...Of all the fears of mankind..._

_...Of all the hates of mankind..._

_...Of all the enemies of mankind..._

_...The deadliest of all, is mankinds own heart..._

_Newly re-written and revised, Vampire Archimiel presents to the community a first in crossovers; an action/horror saga featuring the characters of Dragon Ball Z, and the Care Bears._

_Set in modern-day Earth, this is a story about the fun-loving Care Bears, and the ever training Z Fighters, and how in one fateful day, their worlds collide forever. Born of human kinds own inner hatred and fear, Shadow Heart, the most lethal and dangerous enemy of caring to ever live, has revived to once again wreck havoc and destruction upon the Earth. _

_With more and more people falling deathly ill because of Shadow Hearts dreaded 'Coma Disease', the Care Bears make a special trip to Earth, only to discover the Z Fighters battling mysterious accidents and unexplained deaths. When the cause of all the madness is finally revealed, these two unlikely families team up in a desperate battle of the human race. But when they begin to lose the ones they hold dear, can the two families find it in their hearts to fight past their own grief?_

_Rated what would formerly have been known as PG-13 for mild language and death, Shadow Heart: The Fall of Mankind will, the author hopes, have you anticipating every new event, from the next chapter, to the Earth-shattering final battle that decides the fate not only of Earth, but the existance of life as we know it._

_Coming soon.._

_Shadow Heart: The Fall of Mankind_

_Chapter 1: The Sickness Begins.._


	2. The Sickness Begins

Shadow Heart: The Fall Of Mankind

Chapter 1: The Sickness Begins

In the quite confines of Capsule Corp., the only sounds heard were the gentle humming of a certain blue haired lady, and the monotonous drone of the morning news. Taking a sip of her early morning coffee, Bulma Briefs sat in an easy chair by the window, reading the comics in the Orange Star News while the reporter on TV carried on about the 9th annual Forest City Dog Competition.

Casting a slight glance at the TV, she sighed quitely. 'Another day, another mundane routine', she thought. Every morning it was the same thing; Get up, send her son Trunks off to Orange Star Middle School, take a shower, eat, watch the morning news, then its off to the labs of Capsule Corp., her fathers company, where Bulma was director of Research and Development. Once a week, she would attent the company meetings and give presentations of the newest and latest technology Capsule Corp. had to offer its consumers. When she wasen't in meetings, her time was spent supervising her department, giving press conferences, and answering the endless stream of questions, comments, and problems that seemed to forever plague her time.

Then after work, its come home and prepare dinner for her son and 'husband', the arrogant prince of the Saiyans, Vegeta. Then him and Trunks would dissappear to the gravity room, leaving her alone with her evening soap opreas. After which, she would change into her sleep wear, crawl into bed, and of course, be awakened at 4 in the morning by Vegeta as he drags himself into bed.

Finding her coffee cup empty, she got up from her chair and walked to the kitchens coffee machine to refill it. That done, she walked back to her chair and reclaimed her seat, distractedly slouching and only half paying attention to the reporter on TV.

"Gee.. life sure is boring compared to what it used to be", Bulma said aloud. That sentence left her with a smile on her face as she daydreamed back to more lively days. Days of her companionship with Goku as together they searched the world for the Dragon Balls, of her teenage relationship with Yamcha and their wild adventures, of the excitement she felt at the arrival of Raditz, of her adventures on Planet Namek, of her never-ending, constant verbal battles with--

KKAAAA-BOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMM!

"VEGETA!" Bulma yelled aloud, finishing her own thoughts verbally. Another part of her early morning routine; the morning spar between Goku and Vegeta. This makes the 4,256th time she has asked them to hold it down on the energy blasts, only to have one or both of them blow up something else, usually a much-perferred part of the building. Sighing heavily, she opened the shutters and glanced out to see, sure enough, Vegeta and Goku, both in SSJ mode, tearing up both the landscape, and each other.

Bulma just sighed and sat back down in her chair. "What am I going to do with those two?", she asked aloud. Glancing back at the TV, she saw the reporter was now saying something about a freak accident at the construction site of the new West City 5-Star Hotel. From what Bulma could gather, they had been securing the beams for the structure when one of the beams simply gave way, sending the 3 workers on it falling 30 floors to their deaths. Bulma thought for a moment how hard their families must be taking it.

She thought about her family.. her mother and father, her barely teenage son Trunks, and yes, her stubborn and arrogant husband Vegeta. Almost sadly, she thought to herself what should would ever do if she lost either of them. Now far more mature than the bratty girl who ran the globe with Goku years ago, she found out a long time ago her husband and son took up far more of her life than she ever thought possible.

'Gee Bulma, you're talking like your a grandma and your not even 35 yet!', she scolded herself.

She shook her head and closed her eyes, leaning back in her chair and once again daydreaming about the days of old.

----

"For the last time Kakarot, your pathetic attempts to fool me will never work!" Vegeta cried as he dodged yet another of Gokus feints. The two blurred away, the air ringing heavy with blows hard enough to shatter steel. From the ground, to the air, and the ground again, the two Saiyans warred back and forth, neither giving or gaining ground. Finally, one of Gokus feints did pay off, and he smashed Vegetas face with his fist, sending the stunned prince smashing through a tree and into the ground.

Almost immediently, Vegeta was up and at Goku again, kicking and punching at every available opening. 'Hes gotten much faster', Goku mused to himself. The distraction cost him, as Vegeta imitated one of Gokus own personal feints, then rammed his knee into his stomach and then his laced fists on his back. Goku went down like a rock, crashing through the ground and burying himself with the dirt. Vegeta smirked, gaining confidence. He powered his Ki up and threw a barrage of blasts down into the hole, blowing up the small crater Goku left upon impact.

After the dust cleared, Goku was no where to be found. Immediently on his guard, Vegeta suddenly whirled around and fired, expecting Goku to be behind him. His blast sailed harmlessly into space, no target there for him to hit. "I could have sworn Kakarot was behind me", he snarled. "Actually, I am!", a voice said from behind him. His eyes bulged in shock, and he turned to see Goku, goofy grin plastered on his face, ram his fist into his nose. Still grinning, Goku explained, "I've been working on my speed too you know".

Then Goku promptly axe-kicked Vegeta, sending him crashing to the ground in nearly the same spot Goku had just been. After Vegeta impacted, Goku threw his hands to his side.

"Kaaa meeee Haaaaa Meee...HHAAAAA!" Goku screamed, firing the blue bolt of energy right at the downed Vegeta. Shaking his head, Vegeta looked up in time to see the Kame Hame Ha crash into him. "Damn you and your speed Kakarot", Vegeta muttered before the attack hit. The explosion was thunderous, rattling the scientists inside and throwing poor Bulma to the floor. From her spot on the floor, Bulma looked up and sighed, "I guess this means Goku wins again..".

---

"Ow! Woman, I do NOT need your help for the las--OW!", Vegeta grumbled. At the moment, Bulma was playing doctor, trying to bandage and disinfect Vegetas several injuries. Although Goku expressed many apologies for Vegetas injuries, he did not, however, apologize for the massive amount of food he was now eating from the refridgerator. "You could be a little more thankful you know. I could have just let Goku beat you to a worse pulp than he already did!", Bulma fumed. Vegeta growled slightly; defeating Goku was his highest priority in life, and any remark about Gokus victories over him were enough to get his blood boiling.

As she worked, Bulma faintly caught the tail end of another news report:

"--declined to say, but officials at River Town Memorial have confirmed at least 19 cases of the mysterious disease. The mysterious ailment seems to affect all ages, with no known cause. Details are sketchy at best, with the time between first symptoms and hospitalization being next to nothing", the woman on TV was announcing.

"Woman! If you must play nurse with me than hurry up and be quick about it!", Vegeta snapped. Bulma Shhh'ed at him, "Just a minute Your Higness, I'm trying to hear this", she said with a hint of sarcasm. Vegeta scoffed but stayed quiet.

"With symptoms resembling that of the flu; fever, body aches and pains, vomiting, and nausea, the strange and mysterious illness seems to come out of nowhere, reducing 100 of its victims from normal and healthy, to comatose in a matter of mere hours. Since the first reported case in Japan 5 days ago, no one thus far has woken from their sickness induced coma. Officials from the United States, France, Isreal, Canada, Mexico, Ireland, China, Russia, Germany, and Poland have confirmed they too are seeing cases of this strange ailment, appropriately dubbed by one Japanese official, 'The Coma Disease'", the woman continued.

Vegeta scoffed at the TV as Bulma finished up. "Weaklings.. A Saiyan warrior such as myself does not need fear such pitiful human germs", Vegeta said. Bulma yanked extra hard on his bandages, causing the Prince to yelp in pain.

"No, they just need to fear their powerful human wives", Bulma grinned, obviously enjoying this. Vegeta scowled at her but said nothing. Goku, having finally finished his 'snack', walked over to where Vegeta was sitting at the table. "So Vegeta, when can we spar again?", Goku asked, a bit of sauce still on his mouth. Vegeta shuddered, "Kakarot, at least hold enough dignity to clean yourself up a bit first before approaching the last surviving royal of your own race!".

Goku blinked, then wiped the sauce away with a grin. "Ah come on, Bulmas a great cook, I just can't help but indulge myself every now and then", Goku replied. Vegeta just shook his head and got up. "Come along Kakarot, a rematch is in order", Vegeta said. "Oh no you don't mister!", Bulma said, "You may think its ok to get beat up by Goku twice in the same hour, but I don't!".

Vegeta turned slightly red at this. "For your information woman, Kakarot did NOT beat me up! He used a deceitful technique to mask his own cowardice and attacked me without honor!", Vegeta ranted.

Knowing this would inevitably lead to another argument, Goku gave up on the sparring match and quietly slipped out the door, ignoring the loud shouting match that was now taking place. With his fingers to his forehead, he vanished back to his house in search of even more tasty snacks for his Saiyan appetite.

---

Unknown to the Z Fighters, they were not the only ones watching the current broadcast.

Far up in the clouds, a long way from Earth, in the Kingdom of Care-A-Lot, the Care Bears were seated at a heart shaped table in the Hall of Hearts, watching the same broadcast on a holographic projector Brightheart Raccoon built some time ago.

The Care Bears sat in silence with the Care Bear Cousins, watching the disturbing newscast through the projector. When it was over, the projector deactivated and the lights in the Hall came back on. For a long moment, nobody spoke.

"Any thoughts?", Tenderheart Bear asked. Again, silence. Tenderheart continued, "We defeated Nicholas, the Spirit Book, and Dark Heart, and we haven't heard a peep from Professor Cold Heart or No-Heart in years".

"Whatevers doing it Tenderheart, is an evil the Earth has never seen before!", a voice from the door said. Everyone looked up to see True Heart Bear and Noble Heart Horse, the founders of the Care Bear Family, standing at the door. "True Heart! Noble Heart! We thought you were on Earth!", Brave Heart Lion said. The two elders shook their head. "We went to Earth in the first place to check on Derek, Christy, John, and Dawn, but while we were there we learned from them some kind of strange sickness is going around. We thought it was just a bug, but then we learned what its doing to these poor people", Noble Heart said.

"Whatever it is, more and more people are falling ill from it. Even worse, there seems to be quite a few freak accidents on Earth," True Heart continued, "Some people were killed working on a hotel, and another man was killed after the electric lines he was working on reconnected themselves somehow".

The present Care Bears and Care Bear Cousins gasped. What could have gone wrong on Earth to cause such heartache in such a short amount of time? Suddenly a loud bell toll was heard from outside. True Heart looked out the window at the Caring Meter to see it had dropped from its usual spot of 10, to 9. "How bad is it?", Good Luck Bear asked. True Heart replied, "The Caring Meter has dropped to 9, but if we don't do something, 1 spot is going to be the least of our worries", she said, an omnious look on her face.

Tenderheart stood up and faced everyone else. "I suggest we send a couple of Care Bears to Earth, to visit that hospital and see for themselves how bad it really is. Once they are done, they'll report back to us and we can make plans from there", he suggested. True and Noble Heart agreed, and it was decided Wish and Share Bear would go to Earth, to the hospital in River Town. Then, they would come back to Care-A-Lot to tell the others what they learned.

With Wish and Share on their way to Earth, and the meeting dismissed, True Heart and Noble Heart walked along the clouds of Care-A-Lot alone, both discussing what could be happening down on Earth. "I don't know about this Noble, something tells me this isn't just another fluke", True Heart was saying. Noble Heart turned to her, "A new enemy"? he asked. True Heart didn't answer for a moment. "I don't know.. I just don't know. What I do know is, if it IS a new enemy thats doing all this, it may be more than even the whole Care Bear Family can handle..".

---

Horrified..

Thats the only word Wish and Share Bear knew to describe their reaction at River Town Memorial Hospital. From the second they walked in, they knew something was wrong. They parked their Cloud Car in the underground parking area and walked through the entrance, and immediently they could tell something was amiss. Doctors and nurses were running frantically everywhere, phones were ringing off the hook, and more and more people were filling up the waiting rooms.

Share Bear finally managed to get a nurses attention, and after asking how many cases she currently had, was shocked to discover out of the 186 people in the hospital, 150 of them were from the Coma Disease.

"Out of all these people only 36 are here for other reasons?", Wish Bear said, a hint of fear in her voice. With the doctors and nurses running here and there, the two Care Bears wandered into room after room, all of them with the same sad result; the victim lying in bed, eyes glossed over or closed, shallow breathing, low heartbeat. In desperation, Share and Wish tried a combined Care Bear Stare on one patient, with no response whatsoever.

"Maybe.. its only because there are just 2 of us", Share said hopefully. Wish nodded, but deep down, she was convinced it wouldn't have mattered if there were two hundred of them.

They kept walking, and by and by, heard crying coming from one of the rooms. They entered to see a young girl of about 8 holding onto the hand of another girl, perhaps 17 or 18. The two bears came up, holding the young girl in a reassuring hug. "What happened to her?", Wish asked. The girl sniffled and dryed her eyes.

"We were outside playing hide and seek, my sister and I were. It was my turn to hide, so I did, and after a while I couldn't hear her counting anymore. I came out of my hiding place and she was lying on the ground, shaking and cold. I was so scared, she wouldn't get up.. oh Becky you've got to get up!", the little girl sobbed, shaking her sisters hand.

Sighing sadly, the two bears left the poor girl alone and walked out of the room.

"I think we've seen enough. We should get back to Care-A-Lot and let True and Noble Heart know what we found. They'll know what to do", Share Bear said. Wish Bear agreed, and they were walking towards the elevators when a slight, but noticeable rumble was felt in the floor. The two bears looked at each other in surprise. "Wish Bear.. tell me thats the rumble of your tummy..", Share said with more than a hint of fear.

Wish just looked at Share and slowly shook her head no. The rumble was felt again, this time hard enough to attract the attention of the hospital staff. A feeling of dread crept over both Care Bears. "I think we should be getting back to Care-A-Lot Share Bear, right now", Wish said slowly. Ignoring the elevators, the two ran for the stairs, jumping them 2 and 3 at a time until they were at the basement. They burst out the door and made a mad dash for the Cloud Car.

No sooner than they were inside the car did the rumble turn into an outright roar. A few pebbles hit the ground and Wish Bear looked up, her eyes widening in fright.

The ceiling was collapsing..and Share Bear couldn't get the Cloud Car to start.

"Oh dear come ON!", Share yelled, trying desperately to start the Car. At last, the Car came to life and she stomped the petal. The Car roared forward just as the roof finally gave up the ghost and fell to Earth. The escape was so narrow part of the collapsing concrete smashed off a bit of the back of the Cloud Car. Wish Bear looked back, sorrow tearing at her heart. It was a sure bet most if not all of the sick people on the first floor died when the floor collapsed.

"Hurry up and get us home Share Bear...", Wish began, tears forming in her eyes. "Its going to take ALL the Care Bear Family this time.."

---------------------------------

_Note: Not bad for pulling most of that from memory huh? The opening was re-written a lot to add greater detail and clarity. After writing the Prelude, I sat down and typed out an outline of the story and the major events that will take place. I added and changed as necessary, and I must say I am quite pleased with the results, and I think the readers will be also._

Now that the Care Bears have seen for themselves the havoc on Earth, what can be done about it, and what if the Family alone isn't enough?

Coming soon to Heart: The Fall of Mankind

Chapter 2: Two Worlds Collide


	3. Two Worlds Collide

Shadow Heart: The Fall of Mankind

Chapter 2: Two Worlds Collide

In the days following the Care Bear Family's last meeting, quite a bit had changed on Earth. Share and Wish Bear had been sent from Care-A-Lot to Earth to confirm with their own eyes the horrors of the so-called "Coma Disease". Upon their arrival at the hospital in River Town they encountered far more sick with the disease than they originally planned. Dozens of people sick and dozens more coming in by the day wih no cure in sight, and space in the hospital rapidly running out. But worse than that, by an unholy accident the first floor of the hospital caved in, killing dozens of patients, doctors, and nurses.

With this recent turn of events, the people in River Town were one more mile up crap creek with no paddle and no hope of coming back downstream. Wish and Share returned to Care-A-Lot and immediently asked Tenderheart Bear to call an emergency meeting at the Hall of Hearts, with a special plea for Noble and True Heart to stay around and attend.

It didn't take Tenderheart long at all to agree, and the announcement went out all over Care-A-Lot that every Care Bear was to cease whatever they were doing and attend the conference. Badly as it pained him to do so, Tenderheart ordered all Caring Missions be immediently suspended until after the meeting was over. Through it hurt him to do so, he knew in his heart that ALL the Care Bears needed to be here to hear what was said.

At present Wish and Share were testifying before the Hall of the events of earlier in the day. Wiping the silent, never-ending tears from their faces, Wish and Share took turns recounting the events of the day before the Hall of Hearts, with the entire Family and all the Cousins sitting at the heart shaped table, True and Noble Heart seated at the crown, the two testifying bears standing in the center of the table space, all eyes upon them. They retold the dozens, possible hundreds of sick humans on Earth, the failure of the Care Bear Stare, the feeling of dread, then the collapse of the floor literally right out from under them. They informed them, with saddness both in their eyes and hearts, it was confirmed from Earth News that out of the 214 patients on the first floor, 183 died immediently, an additional 19 died later of injuries indirectly related to the collapse. Two doctors, 5 nurses, 3 orderly's, and one janitor also perished in the accident from injuries sustained during the collapse.

"202 out of 214 people... gone?" Noble Heart Horse asked, far more than a little sorrow in his voice. Wish Bear nodded, "Earth television says the floor fell because of the support beams. They don't know how, but the support beams just... crumbled..", she said, her voice trailing off. There was general murmurs from the Family, each of them looking at each other as if one of them would suddenly laugh and say the whole thing is one big joke that never happened, that the people with the Coma Disease are merely sleeping, and all 202 people are really alright afterall.

Of course, nobody could do such a thing.

"So, what do we do..?" Good Luck Bear asked. Braveheart Lion cleared his throat, "Brightheart has the latest disease counts, we'd like him to read them to us please". Brightheart Raccoon stepped to the space in the middle of the room, still occupied by Wish and Share Bear. Smiling sadly at them he read his report. "The reports of the Coma Disease continue to climb as we speak. Five days ago, United States, France, Isreal, Canada, Mexico, Ireland, China, Russia, Germany, and Poland were the only countries reporting the disease. We have now added the United Kingdom, Cuba, Ireland, Brazil, Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, Turkey, Austria, Finland, Switzerland, Puerto Rico, Denmark, plus all the islands of Japan instead of the major areas. Also, we've heard every major city in the Earth continent of Austraila is reporting infection".

There were several gasps of horror at this report, but Brightheart read on:

"Total infected for United States ranges between 750,000 to 4 million, total for United Kingdom is between 540,000 to 2 million, total for Japan is up from 92,000 to..." Brightheart Raccoon stopped, his voice breaking.. "Up from 92,000 to...1,212,900.." he forced out. At this point he took a deep breath, swallowing back the tears. "Adding in totals from all over the world, total estimates for Earth are 312,743,921 confirmed infected.." With that he sat back down, his face in his hands, sobbing quietly.

For a long moment, nobody spoke. Then Cheer Bear stated in a half-whisper, "Is the count truely over one billion...? Isn't it possible the television is wrong..?" she whispered hopefully." Brightheart crushed all hopes of the TV being wrong when he informed her the Earth news stations are UNDER reporting the victims to prevent world-wide panic. Share and Wish sat down, comforting and crying on each other. Most sat in stunned silence. After a long while, Love-A-Lot spoke up, "So.. I guess thats the end then..?". True Heart looked at Noble, then back to her Family, then at Noble, who smiled at her and nodded. She stood,facing her Family.

"No, it isn't the end. It looks as though hope is small, me and Noble Heart know this. We know the hopelessness you must feel facing this. So many people on Earth are sick with little hope of improving, but you cannot lose heart, not when they need you the most.." she said, a faint smile on your face.

Proud Heart Cat perked his head in her direction, "What are you saying..?" he asked.

Noble Hear smiled knowingly, looking at True Heart who looked rather optomistic about something. "While we were looking the Earth over, we found someone, or rather, some ONES..."

----

415...416...417...418...

Vegeta grunted deeply, a pool of sweat under him as he furiously did his daily 500 push-ups. For most 500 would sound like overboard, for Vegeta it was just another part of training. If he was going to beat Kakarott, he wasen't going to do it by slacking.

As with his custom, he had the gravity set to 200x Earths gravity while exercising. And, likewise was his custom, the Television was on to Earths premier Boxing channel. Vegeta had very little to acknowledge humans for, but even the Prince was intrigued by boxing, which he called far superior to wrestling, a sport Vegeta viewed as little more than, "mostly naked, sweaty Earth men grabbing one another".

Nearing the end of his 500, Vegeta couldn't help but grin to himself. His power was growing stronger day after day, and he wouldn't have long to go before poor Kakarott was stomped into the ground like the third class dog he was, and Saiyan royalty once again claimed their rightful place in the universe!

"Sorry for the interruption of Hall vs. McEchols, it seems a breaking report has just come in from WBKI News 9 in Orange Star City. Here with us at Orange Star is Tayaki Kurosawa, anchorman from News 9 in Orange Star. Tayaki?

"Thanks Misami. At about 1:25 pm this afternoon a Japan Air passenger plane crashed about 35 minutes after take off. The plane was nearing the shoreline of Japan bound for Austrailia when the crash occured, all 192 people on board died. Officials at the Japanese Transportation Commission state minutes before the crash the pilot and co-pilot lapsed into unconsciousness, presumably from stroke or heart-attack related illness. As a result, the plane nose dived into the ground at nearly 300 miles per hour."

"Tragic Tayaki, it really is.." Misami the reporter said, "Our thoughts go out to the families of the victims today, no word from Japan Air as to cancellation of further flights"--CLICK.

Vegeta turned the TV and Simulator off and wiped his brow with a smirk. "Serves them right for never mastering their power", he said. He shut the lights to the Gravity Chamber off and walked out, closing the door behind him. On the walk back to Capsule Corp, a familiar figure blurred into existance next to him. It was Goku, his hand holding a massive chicken sandwich.

"Hwwey Vegheta! Whgat are yhou dhoing?" he spat out, crumbs of his sandwich flying everywhere. Vegeta shivered in disgust. "For your information, I was heading inside to find food", he grumbled. Goku swallowed noisely, "Great, I'm starving! I'll come with you!". Vegeta stared in disbelief, "YOU'RE ALREADY EATING YOU THIRD CLASS CLOWN!! HOW CAN YOU POSSIBLY BE HUNGRY!?!!" he screamed at Goku.

Goku laughed, holding his slightly swollen stomach. "I dunno, but.." Gokus stomach emitted a loud grumble.. Vegeta slapped his forehead and turned without a word, walking inside with Goku right behind him..

----

"We're sending three of you; Tenderheart, Braveheart, and Cheer. Once you get to Earth, find Bulma Briefs, and give her this, it will explain everything", Noble Heart instructed, giving a small star-shaped projector to Tenderheart. He put it in the Cloud Car they would be taking for safe keeping. The Care Bears, after a long discussion and conference, decided they would most likely be unable to combat this threat alone. The Z Warriors had been discovered by them, and after doing some digging, learned of their exploits at saving Earth. They knew all about Goku and the others, but were unsure how willing they'd be to help against something of a non-combat nature.

Still, Noble and True Heart believed in Bulmas good heart, and that with her scientific knowledge, they could find a cure. It was decided three Care Bears would go to speak with her, and if she agreed, hopefully they could develop a cure for the disease quickly.

If they could get her to help, and a cure WAS found, they could run round-the-clock Caring Missions giving it to people on Earth. It would take some time, but with everyone helping, they could get the planet cured in no time.

They climbed into the car, expecting the worst, but hoping for the best. True Heart reminded them again to find Bulma as soon as they got to Earth, give her the projector, and convince her to help. If something went wrong, they were to return immediently to Care-A-Lot for help. Their biggest concern was what if something DID go wrong, and not enough of them were left in Care-A-Lot to help those not infected? The three waved goodbye and took off, trying to stay cheerful in a situation devoid of cheer.

As the three Care Bears drove off into the distance, a loud GONGGGG was heard in the distance. Everyone looked to see the Caring Meter had fallen to 8. Noble Heart swallowed hard, definately not what he was wanting to see. "Lets hope she agrees to this.." he said fearfully. The Care Bears knew full well what they would be up against if Earths leading scientist had no answer for them.

----

"What do you think shes like Tenderheart?" Cheer asked as they drove down to Earth. Tenderheart sighed, the wind blowing his tuffs of hair gently. "I don't know... hopefully everything will go ok and we'll have this solved in no time!", he said optimistically.

Braveheart gave a dissenting look. "I don't know Tenderheart. You saw the records of what went on on Earth, these people have been in a lot of fights for the planet. Maybe they won't want to help because it isn't something that can be easily seen or fought", he said.

Tenderheart didn't want to admit it, but he was thinking the same thing. What IF these people either would not help, or had no way TO help? How would they tll True and Noble that the people they put so much trust and faith in couldn't help them at all and they were right back where they started? Tenderheart knew full well the consequences if this were so: Eventually the disease would overrun Earth, the Caring Meter would drop to zero, and that would be the end of Care-A-Lot and everything he held dear.

He shook his head. No way that would happen. He was willing to bet every cookie in Gram Bears bakery that this Bulma would have an answer before he even asked the question. He tried to stay positive, telling himself she probably already is aware of the problem and has a top team of scientists on it now.

Heck, they might have wasted a trip.

"Tenderheart?!" Cheer yelled at him. He shook his head, apparently he went into a daydream. "What is it Cheer?" he asked.

She pointed up ahead. The bright, sunny day didn't look so bright and sunny anymore. Up ahead a deep black, ominous cloud was forming before their eyes directly in front of them.

"What in the --" Braveheart began.

He never got to finish. Before Tenderheart could blink, a bolt of pure black lightning roared from the cloud, striking the Cloud Car and blowing it to bits right out from under them. In less than 3 seconds all three of them were falling to Earth...fast.

The three of them screamed and grabbed onto each other, falling like meteors to the ground below.

"What do we do now?!" yelled Cheer. Tenderheart focused hard, and Stared a rainbow bridge from his symbol that lanced to the ground below. With nowhere else to go, the three of them hit the bridge and began a slide directly for Earth.

----

"WOW!! I feel so much better now!" Goku exclaimed. He should, after having just consumed roughly 35 pounds of food from Capsule Corp storage.

Vegeta had reluctantly allowed Goku food, on the condition it led to an immedient sparring match between them afterwards. They were at present stretching in preparation of the fight, with Goku yammering on about the superior quality of Chi-Chi's food, but Capsule Corps superior quantity.

After what seemed like forever, Goku finished his stretching and him and Vegeta assumed fighting stances. Vegeta was just about to charge when all of a sudden, a rainbow landed next to him!

"Whoaaa pretty..." Goku said almost in a slur. "Hey! You think theres a pot of gold nearby?!" he asked excitedly. Vegeta physically restrained himself from slapping Goku and examined the unusual rainbow that had landed next to him.

"Odd.. these Earth things are supposed to be mere illusions".. he mused. Then he felt a slight vibration and heard a rushing noise. Instinctly he jumped back, fists at the ready, just in time to see three equally unusual furry...thing... crash into the ground at high speed, raising a dust cloud. When it cleared, the Care Bears were in a heap on the ground. The rainbow shimmered and vanished.

Silence drug on for a few moments, then Tenderheart stirred and slow stood up, Braveheart and Cheer were out cold. Goku approached Tenderheart with a look of pure wonder, while Vegeta looked at the injured Care Bear as though it might be a Frieza-Approved nuclear bomb in disguise.

Goku was about to say something when Tenderheart, barely able to stand, weakly uttered the word, "Bulma..". Vegeta grabbed Goku and shoved him in front. "Kakarott! Explain this at once!" he ordered, still unsure of what to do. Tenderheart tried to take a step but fell forward. Goku caught him in his arms, himself equally unsure what to do. Tenderheart reached up and held the star shaped projector out to Goku. It was a miracle he remembered the damn thing when the car was destroyed.

Goku slowly took it and Tenderheart again muttered the word, "Bulma.." then fainted away. Goku and Vegeta looked at each other, understanding only one thing: find Bulma... now.

----

_Now that the Care Bears have made it to Earth, what happens now? Look for Chapter 3, "Evil Revealed" shortly.._


	4. Evil Revealed

Shadow Heart: The Fall of Mankind

Chapter 3: Evil Revealed

For all Bulmas surprise, you might as well as have Adolf Hitler show up for iced tea.

The now very puzzled daughter of Capsule Corps founder was presently sitting in the Infirmary, watching through the window of a small adjorning room as her three highly unexpected visitors recovered on hospital-like beds.

When they landed Bulma had been making her usual rounds of the facility. She was just finishing with Research & Development when one of the receptionists came running to her, yelling about an emergency with her husband.

She had originally figured it to be like any other of Vegetas "Emergencies", mainly the Gravity Chamber was broken, or he wanted something to eat he couldn't readily fix himself.

This time truely WAS different, as when she got outside Vegeta was currently screaming death threats at Goku for his "blatent attempt to end the life of Royalty through treacherous aliens". Aliens meaning the three unconscious Care Bears on the ground.

Bulma immediently ordered the facility Medics on the scene, who, although bewildered as to what creatures they were caring for, took them off to the Infirmary.

For nearly 3 hours Bulma had been sitting on a little stool, staring at the still figures. Bulma yawned, putting her hand over her mouth. She looked at the motionless Care Bears, wondering first what they were, and second why the last word out of them was her name.

'What are they doing here...?', she thought to herself, slowly nodding off..

"HEY!!" Bulma exclaimed, sitting upright suddenly, "One of them gave Goku something they wanted me to see!". She got up excitedly and ran over to the counter where Goku had left the small star. She picked it up and ran her fingers over it.

It was smooth as glass, about the size of an American Half Dollar, star-shaped and brilliant gold in color. She held it in her hands and rubbed it with her fingers. She noticed on the underside was a small button. She pressed it, and what looked like a lens cover, perfectly blended to the color of the star, opened and a projector shone into the air like a hologram.

It was an image of two more of the weird creatures; a white bear and a purple pony looking creature. After a minute the hologram spoke:

_"Hello Bulma Briefs. My name is Noble Heart Horse, this is True Heart Bear, we are the founders of the Care Bear Family that reside in Care-A-Lot, far above the surface of Earth. It is our duty to care for and protect all life on Earth, but now we have a new reason to protect people."_

_"There is a sickness on Earth known as the Coma Disease. We have seen it afflicts thousands of people, and none of the Earth doctors can cure it. We ourselves have been unable to cure it. This is why we've sent three members of our Family to Earth to find you. Their names are Tenderheart Bear, Cheer Bear, and Braveheart Lion. They have been entrusted to find you, in the hope you will help us find a cure for everyone."_

_"We need you in this Bulma, please don't abandon us..."_

The hologram shimmered, then faded away. Bulma stood there overwhelmed.

How could this possibly be real? She had seen unusual things before, but talking animals was certainly at the top of her Weird List. She didn't have long to ponder, a glimpse of pink through the window caught her eye. The pink creature was waking up it seemed.

She rushed inside the adjorning room, over to the bedside of the creature. She slowly stirred, and looked up at Bulma. "Where am I...?" Cheer asked. Suddenly she bolted upright. "Bulma! We've got to find her!", the creature then tried weakly to get up.

Bulma held her gently down. "I'M Bulma... you can relax. Which one are you?" she asked. Cheer told her her name, and Bulma continued. "I assume the red one is Tenderheart and the orange one Braveheart then. I know why you're here, Goku gave me the projector", she finished.

Cheer looked at her with a greatly relieved sigh. "Thank goodness..." she muttered before falling back unconscious...

-------

The next few hours went by in a blur. Before long Tenderheart and Braveheart woke up to find Cheer had woken up a second time and was sitting in a sort of living room with Bulma. Formal introductions were made, and the three of them were telling Bulma about their life in Care-A-Lot when the door slammed open and in walked mad-as-hell Vegeta.

"So! The vile creature that made the attempt on my life is awake!", he declared, more than a little pissed looking.

Goku was, predictably, right behind him. "Would you calm down!? They weren't trying to kill you Vegeta!". Vegeta snorted, "Easy for you to say Kakarott, they didn't almost land on YOU!".

Bulma, starting to get a little angry, got off the couch. "If you will sit down and listen to me, I'll tell you why they're here Vegeta!", she yelled. She pulled the projector back out and re-played the hologram for him and Goku. When it was over both of them sat in silence.

"So...", Vegeta began, "These creatures are here, to help you find a cure for the sick humans, so they can go back to caring for them...?". Cheer nodded, "Thats about the size of it".

vegeta roared with laughter. "Oh Kami.. its too much.. BWAHAHAHA!!", he continued laughing. A full minute of disbelieving stares went by, and Vegeta calmed down enough to talk.

"Don't you see how ironic this is? The humans always brag of their superior technology, yet need a woodland creature to look after them!", he said, almost ready to begin another laughing fit.

Bulma audibly growled in anger. "Don't you GET IT?! They've probably been looking out for YOUR lazy ass for some time now! They are trying very hard to help these people out Vegeta, how can you laugh about this?!". Knowing another hissy fit was coming, Vegeta did the wise thing he always did when Bulma got like this: Got up and immediently left the room without a word.

When he left, Bulma sighed and looked at Tenderheart, "I'm sorry about him.. he seems cold, but hes not that bad a guy..", she said. Goku grinned from the doorway, "Bulmas right, hes a big softie!".

---

Over the next hour, the Care Bears filled Bulma in about all they knew of the Coma Disease, informing her how their faithful Care Bear Stare did nothing to even stir the Coma Disease victim they encountered, the collapse of the hospital, and the way the Caring Meter worked. Bulma and Goku sat motionless, looking more pale by the second.

When the Care Bears finished, she got up and walked around the room in thought. Only a few seconds later there was a knock on the door and in walked Chi Chi, Gohan, Trunks, and Goten.

For a moment nobody said anything, then Goten said almost cautiously, "We heard you had visitors Bulma.."

The silence was deafening, then broken as one by one, the Z Fighters came and introducted themselves to the Family. Piccolo was absent, as, obviously, was Vegeta. They heard from Gohan Tien and Choutzu were coming by tomorrow to meet Bulmas unusual guests, as would Krillen, Seventeen, and his sister and Krillens wife, Eighteen.

With introductions made, everyone sat around on the couch or chairs, the Care Bears retelling the newcomers about their life and enemies, and the Z Fighters taking turns telling about THEIR lives and enemies. Refreshments were brought in and for a while, everyone almost forgot about the problems of Earth as they sat around, talking amongst themselves like old times.

After about 45 minutes, Trunks and Goten said their goodbyes and left the room. They wandered down the hall, talking amongst themselves concerning the new visitors and whether or not Trunks mom would be able to cure the disease.

"I know shes smart Trunks, but I've seen how many people are sick. I just don't know if she can do it", Goten was saying. Trunks scoffed at his best friends skepticism, confident his mother could do whatever she put her mind two.

They stopped for a moment so Goten could run into the bathroom, when he came out they continued their walk down the hall, towards the room that led to the outside of Capsule Corp. They milled around for a few more minutes chit-chatting, Trunks planning on spending the night at Gotens. Out of the corner of his eye, a small flash of something caught Trunks eye.

He looked out the window and saw nothing. He blinked and shook his head. He could have sworn he saw fog, or smoke maybe rising from the ground. He shook his head again, apparently so lost in throught he had not heard Goten speaking to him.

"TRUNKS! Thats the third time I said it, are you ok?" Goten asked, a bit worried. Trunks shook his head yes, "Yea.. I jus thought I saw something.. silly I know.

---

Back in the Gravity Chamber, Vegeta was once again involved in yet another training regiment. He did not do anything near his normal. His mind, albeit unwillingly, was focused on the strange creatures that had shown up at his mates house earlier so uninvitedly.

Pushing them from his thoughts, Vegeta concentrated on the training droid in front of him. The droid was shooting a constant stream of blasts at him, which he was focusing on dodging. He was a little past 600 when one came VERY close, whizzing by his head and singeing his hair.

Growling in anger, he blurred away and appeared behind the droid, kicking it so hard to slammed into the wall and shattered like glass. He spat at the remains, and instead turned his attention to performing a complicated kata of punches and kicks. After a few minutes, he found it difficult to concentrate, his mind obviously elsewhere.

Although Vegeta probably couldn't have cared less what happened to the Earth, his family was here, so he at least had an interest in its survival. A few more minutes later and he realized he would never be able to concentrate on this tonight.

He picked his towel up from the hanger and wiped his brow. For over an hour he had been trying to push the Care Bears from his mind, trying to stop himself from caring why they were here or what they wanted. He threw the towel to the floor and walked out, at least in the back of his mind, wondering of the possibility of his wife or children getting the disease.

The thought made him think of his sweet daughter, currently on a 3 day school trip. There had been no reports of anything suspicious in the area the school had gone to, so he hadn't worried. Although his son was truely his blood and made him deeply proud, Bra was his little princess.

He was on his way back to the house when a small flash of silver caught his eye. He jerked his head to the side, but saw nothing. He stood for a moment, and continued his walk, but again a small flash, or mist, of something silver caught his eye. Turning again, he again saw nothing.

Thinking he finally overdid the gravity, he mumbled something about damn women before going back across the yard, into the house, right past Goten and Trunks with only a grunt of acknowledgement, down the hall, and straight into the kitchen.

---

Walking Vegeta walk past them, Trunks stayed silent while his Father walked by. When he left the room, he said to Goten, "He looks like somethings bothering him". Goten nodded slowly in agreement.

"I think hes been pretty stressed out lately, although I'm not exactly sure what for. Him and mom seem ok, they only fight about... a hundred times a day", Trunks continued.

"Do you think your dads ever worried he'll catch the Coma Disease?" Goten blurted out. Trunks just gaped at him, "No way! And even if he was, he'd NEVER tell anybody. He say its acting like a weakling to be afraid of a thing like that".

He was about to say something else when he himself saw a small wisp of silver in the front yard. This time Trunks and Goten saw it, and stood there motionless and silent watching it.

It floated in the yard for a moment, shimmered, and vanished. Trunks looked at Goten, an almost triumphan look on his face, "I KNEW I wasen't loosing it!", he said, as both of them bolted out the door into the yard.

They looked around, but saw nothing. Streetlights, houses a bit down the street, but aside from that, the yard was empty. They stood there for a moment in silence, then looked at each other and simply began laughing.

"Man Trunks, we're REALLY going to have to stop hitting each others heads so hard!", Goten laughed. Trunks laughed also, relieved. They stood there for a moment laughing, listening to the relief in each others voice, the hooting of nighttime owls, the chirping of crickets, and the whistling of Charles, the night watchman.

Something suddenly struck Trunks: Charles familiar whistling was nowhere to be heard. He mentioned this to Goten, who listened. Charles was a friendly man, last 50's, who was hired some time ago as the night watchman. If you ventured outside, you could always hear him whistling some old song as he made his rounds.

"Maybe hes off today..?" Goten volunteered. Trunks just stood there for a moment, then shook his head. "We'd better ask mom about it, she'll know for sure", he said. They turned and walked back towards the house when something stirred in the bushes.

Both instantly turned, dropping into battle stances. They felt out, but couldn't sense anything. Very slowly, they walked towards the bushes directly next to the large tree in the yard, the source of the sound. They approached and the bushes rustled again. Preparing for an enemy of unknown strenght, Trunks suddenly yanked the bushes back to reveal the family cat, Nippy.

Both boys looked at each other and laughed again. "Goten we're scaring ourselves too much.." he said in a laugh. Goten nodded in agreement and reached to pet Nippy.

No sooner than his hand touched the cat did something heavy fall from the branches above, landing right in front of Goten. The cat screeched and ran, leaving Goten behind.

It was Charles, and he was quite dead.

Not from a heart attack, stroke, or anything that could be considered normal. It was as if his body was put in the electric chair for about 30 minutes first. He had obviously died quite violently through electrocution.

Goten panicked, making odd whimpers as he crawled away from the body, trying not to stare at the still open eyes. Trunks looked mortified, and for a moment neither moved.

Then a voice... as cold as the grave itself, almost like oil, slid into their heads and they heard only one word...

_"Death..."_

The strange voice didn't have to tell them twice, as both boys bolted inside, screaming as though Hell itself was after them.

----

Vegeta was just finishing the last bit of his sandwich when Bulma and the others walked from their previous room into the main room, ready to say goodnight to Chi Chi, Goku, and Gohan. Just as they walked in, they are confronted by Trunks and Goten, screaming that Charles was dead and something was after them.

Hearing the noise, Vegeta growled, leaving his half-finished glass of milk behind as he stormed from the kitchen.

"What is the MEANING of this?!" he bellowed to the boys. In panic, they told everyone what happened, and what they had found. Bulma gasped, not sure if this was another one of the boys tall tales again (Like the one about Kurin being turned into a fish by King Kai).

Vegeta growled, and looked at his son. "If this is a lie, you'll regret ever telling it!", then strode out the door, Bulma and the others right behind him. He walked over to the tree and looked around, finding nothing.

He sighed deeply in an attempt to calm himself as Bulma rushed over to his side.

"TRUNKS!! This is NOT FUNNY young man!" she yelled, obviously angry. Trunks and Goten began loudly protesting when Vegeta held a hand up for silence. Taking a deep breath, he looked at Bulma, an odd look in his eyes.

"Woman... go inside. Take the boy. I see no corpse, but I certainly smell the stain of blood and death here. He is not lying, now go!" Vegeta commanded. Bulma started to protest, but the look Vegeta gave her could have stopped a volcano eruption.

She rushed everyone back inside, leaving Vegeta alone. Care Bears and Z Fighters alone peeked from the window, watching Vegeta. He looked around for a few moments, reaching out with his Ki to feel whatever he possibly could...

...Nothing..

His mind still suspicious, Vegeta started towards the door to warn Kakarotts family home, and his to bed when the same cold, oily voice slipped into his mind, freezing him in his tracks.

_"Fear..."_

Vegeta stood still, the hair on the back of his neck rising at once. He growled a bit and turned around, then to his right, left, and back to the house...nothing.

He looked at the empty street, trying to focus down the darkened path when his sons voice rang out.

"Do you see anything dad?" Trunks yelled. Vegeta growled, "Yes, I see a half Saiyan spending the rest of his life in his room for his disobedience of his faUUUGHHHH!!"

Vegeta was cut short as a fist, unseen to the human eye, slammed right into his face, knocking him several feet away before smacking into the ground. He was instantly on his feet, blood already seeping from the would above his left eye.

"I DEMAND YOU SHOW YOURSELF RIGHT NOW!!!" he screamed.

_"If you insist... my 'Prince'.."_

Hair on his neck again standing straight up, Vegeta watched, in a mix of wonder and horror, as a small cloud of silver/gray smokey, mist-like substance formed in mid air. It swirled lazily around for a minute, then a deep, blood red pair of eyes glowed from within. The mist took the form of a man, as tall as Goku, almost as muscular. The man had shoulder lenght coal black hair with rifts of silver in it, skin the color of milk, and what appeared to be black chain mail armor covering his chest, forearms, fists, legs, and feet. The man almost looked like something from the middle ages.

His eyes glowed with a violent red glow, and he smiled as he spoke outloud: "I would certainly hate to disobey an order from the GREAT SAIYAN PRINCE VEGETA!".. he bowed low, an obvious mocking gesture.

How this fool knew his name or title, he did not know or care, Vegetas rage was near lethal point by now, "Who are you fool?! Tell me your name so I can laugh about it once I've destroyed you!!".

The man smiled, a gleeful, sadistic smile, "I am the loss of everyone you ever loved, the hatred of your enemies, and the subject of your revenge. I am the fear, anger, hate, racism, and pain of your souls a hundred times over. I am your murder, rape, violation, and genocide. Simply put, I am a means to this planets end.."

He smiled, his eyes glowing more. "But please, call me by my name of centuries ago... Shadow Heart".

Vegeta had clearly had enough. Blasting towards Shadow Heart, going SSJ in mid-flight and forgetting all about Bulmas rules of no Ki outside of the Gravity Chamber, Vegeta lauched his fist right into Shadow Hearts face..

..and went through through it!

Vegeta blinked as he was no longer there. Two seconds later a fist seemingly made of iron crashed into his back, breaking two of his ribs and the shoulderblade of his left side. Vegeta roared in agony and fell forward onto the ground.

Trunks immediently rushed to his father, but was cut short by 10 foot high metal barbs that sprung from nowhere to form a circle around Vegeta, the barbs crackling with red lightning.

Shadow Heart suddenly materialized right in front of Vegeta, stomping on his midsection mercilessly, crushing 3 more ribs and making Vegeta spit out a large mouthful of blood. Trunks was murderously mad after watching this, and grabbed the nearest barb to pull it away. He thought he had just put a penny in King Yemmas personal light socket. The shock was so bad it propelled him backwards a solid 15 feet, 2nd and 3rd degree burns instantly springing to life on his hands.

"Care Bears STARE!!" Tenderheart commanded. The three beams of love hit Shadow Heart as one, eliciting a cry of surprise from him. Thats not all it elicited, as black lighting erupted on his hand and he thrust his hand towards the Care Bears, striking all three with bursts of black lightning. The Care Bears, injured, hit the floor, unable to move.

With Vegeta surrounded, they, and everyone else, could just do nothing but watch what happened next. Shadow Heart pointed his middle and index fingers are Vegeta and smiled. "See you soon.."..

Three seconds later black lightning erupted from his hands and encircled Vegeta, burning and tearing away at his both. Goku and Gohan, with Goten, grabbed the barbs, but no matter how hard they pulled, received the same treatment for their trouble.

Vegeta made one lost bloodcurdling scream, then the lighting bolts passed. His body seemingly as bad as Charles's, Vegeta lay motionless, weakly coughing up deep red liquid. Shadow Heart turned back into a silver cloud with red eyes, reminding Tenderheart chillingly of the form Dark Heart used to take.

"Now if you'll excuse me.. I have to go see.. an old friend..", he said before vanishing, along with the barbs.

Everyone swarmed Vegeta, but it was Goku that grabbed him and ran for the infirmary. Tenderheart, getting to his feet shakily along with the other two, looked at his companion Care Bears. "This is going to take ALL of us..." he said. The others nodded in approval.

Looking at Bulma, he stated, "We're so sorry to do this, but we feel now, especially having seen this... we need ALL the family". Bulma agreed instantly in approval.

Tenderheart nodded, "Alright, tomorrow we head back to Care-A-Lot to move ALL the family here, we've GOT to stop him!"

---------

_Oh you can move them, but can you protect them? I'll be working on Chapter 4 soon. Still working on final details, but the chapters title is, "Wake up the Madness.." Look for it soon!_


End file.
